Method for integrating a device into a vehicle communications network

ABSTRACT

A method of adding a device to a vehicle communications network. The method is used to announce a device added to the vehicle communications network to the other devices already connected to the vehicle communications network and to make the newly added device controllable for other devices via a driver. Either a default driver or a special driver is used, the special driver being loaded from the device itself or via a telecommunications network or by the user. The device recognized is entered into a database together with the particular driver. The newly added device is recognized either by a message from the newly added device to the bus manager or by an initialization phase triggered by the newly added device. If the database for entries is exhausted, the entries for devices not connected to the vehicle communications network for the longest period of time are deleted. A bus according to IEEE 1394 may be used as the vehicle communications network.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of adding a device in avehicle communications network.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Vehicle communications networks may be used to an increased extent inmotor vehicles to interlink multimedia components. Such a vehiclecommunications network may be, for example, the MOST bus over which datamay be exchanged among the multimedia components via optical cables.Such multimedia components may include, for example, a radio receiver, aCD player and a navigation unit. A bus manager may perform theadministrative functions of the vehicle communications network,including recognition of new devices, for example. The devices of thevehicle communications network may be placed in various locations in thevehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An exemplary method according to the present invention for adding adevice in a vehicle communications network may provide that an addeddevice may be recognized; that it may be determined whether there is aspecial driver for the new device; and if this is not the case, such adriver may be requested. The device recognized may be entered into thedatabase of the vehicle communications network, and the other devices ofthe vehicle communications network may be notified that the new devicehas been added to the vehicle communications network. This may yieldsystematic handling of a newly added device. Therefore, the otherdevices may be also notified automatically that this device is alsoavailable, if required, for control with its functions.

The new device may log on with the bus manager and may thus berecognized as a new device by the bus manager. This may initiate thephase of identification of the new device, so that the connection of thenew device to the vehicle communications network may then be made knownto all the other connected devices, and the functions of the new devicemay be made available to the other devices.

The new device may trigger an initialization phase of the vehiclecommunications network, so that all the devices which are then connectedto the vehicle communications network may then be recognized by the busmanager.

The special driver may also be supplied along with the new device to beadded, i.e., the driver may be stored on the new device and may beloaded over the communications network. This may simplify theacquisition of the special driver for the new device to be added.

The special driver may be requested by the user of the vehiclecommunications network. The user may be notified, via an arrangement forvisual and acoustic display, which special driver is available and howit is to be loaded. This special driver for the new device to be addedmay be loaded via a memory, such as, for example a CD-ROM inserted bythe user into a storage device of the vehicle communications network.

The special driver for the new device to be added may be loaded via atelecommunications network, e.g., the Internet, directly from themanufacturer's Internet website. This may yield an arrangement ofacquiring the special driver which is shielded from the user. This maybe a simple and convenient method.

Entries may also be reserved in the database for such devices which havealready been removed from the vehicle communications network until thepoint in time when the database is exhausted. Then the first entriesdeleted may be the ones entered for those devices which have not beenconnected to the vehicle communications network for the longest periodof time. By marking the entries, however, certain entries may be blockedto prevent deletion in order to continue to keep these entriesavailable.

A default driver for the newly added device may be used if no specialdriver is available immediately. With such default drivers, a basicfunction of a newly added device may be implemented, thus permitting ause of the new device. However, special functions characteristic of thisdevice may then be not possible with the default driver.

A bus system according to IEEE 1394 may be used as the vehiclecommunications network. This may be a serial bus in which terminals areconnected via a copper cable having four to six strands or via anoptical fiber. Various communications network topologies may beimplementable by using this bus system.

The added device may have an arrangement for implementing the steps ofthe exemplary method according to the present invention. A device mayhave a bus manager which performs the steps of the exemplary methodaccording to the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a vehicle communications network.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the exemplary method according to thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Vehicle communications networks may be used to an increasing extent inmotor vehicles. The devices connected to the vehicle communicationsnetwork may not always be present immediately with the originalequipment, in particular devices which do not come onto the market untilafter the original equipment of the vehicle. Later, users may add newdevices to the vehicle communications network as desired and as may berequired.

Therefore, an exemplary method of adding a device in an automotivecommunication network may be used according to the present invention. Abus manager may determine on the basis of a database of the vehiclecommunications network whether a special driver, which may make all thefunctions of the new device usable, or a default driver is available fora device recognized as new. If only the default driver is available, thespecial driver for the newly recognized device may be requested, and anentry for the newly recognized device may be made in the database. Theother devices of the vehicle communications network may be notified ofthe presence of the newly added device. The special driver may either beloaded by the newly added device itself or a user may be instructed toload the special driver by using an interchangeable memory medium, orthe special driver may be loaded from an external database via aninterface via an external telecommunications network.

The entries for the devices in the database of the vehiclecommunications network may be linked to the available drivers. This linkmay either be the direct storage of the drivers or reference to thedriver, i.e., where the driver is stored and thus may be loadable.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a vehicle communications network. Abus manager 2, a database 3, a memory 4, a signal processor 5, a signalprocessor 8, a transceiver station 10, a CD player 12, a navigation unit13 and a radio receiver 14 are connected to a bus 1 via datainputs/outputs. All the devices connected to bus 1 have bus controllerswhich permit communication over bus 1. A display 6 is connected to afirst data output of signal processor 5. A loudspeaker 7 having an audioamplifier is connected to a second data output of signal processor 5. Aninput device 9 is connected to a data input of signal processor 8. Anantenna 11 is connected to a second data input/output of transceiverstation 10. An antenna 15 is connected to an input of receiver 14.

Bus 1 here is a bus system according to IEEE 1394, called a firewall.However, other bus systems may also be used here. Bus manager 2 hereruns on a separate device having a processor, and other applications mayalso be stored on this device and called up. Storage device 4 is adevice to hold interchangeable storage media, e.g., a CD-ROM drive or aDVD drive, or a traditional disk drive. As an alternative, a storagedevice having a fixedly installed storage device medium or combinationsof a fixedly installed storage device with a drive for interchangeablestorage devices, may also be used.

Display 6 here is a plasma display screen, and input device 9 has manualoperating elements, menus that may be displayed on display 6 beingselectable. Voice control may also be provided. If equipped with atouch-sensitive layer, display 6 may also function as an input device 9.

Transceiver station 10 and antenna 11 form a mobile telephone, which mayestablish a dial-up connection to a public telecommunications network.In particular, connection to the Internet may be provided, so thatdrivers may also be downloaded from Internet websites. Navigation unit13 has a locating device, to ascertain the location of bus 1. Radioreceiver 14 has a high-frequency receiving part which filters the radiosignals received via antenna 15, amplifies them and converts them to anintermediate frequency. In addition, radio receiver 14 has ananalog-digital converter to convert the received radio signals intodigital signals. Demodulation and decoding are also performed in radioreceiver 14. The data thus received is transmitted over bus 1 to signalprocessor 5, to then be output via loudspeaker 7 or, in the case ofmultimedia data, also via display 6.

FIG. 2 shows the exemplary method according to the present invention inthe form of a flow chart. In method step 16, the new device to be added,a CD player 12 here, is mechanically connected to vehicle communicationsnetwork 1. Vehicle communications network 1 has interfaces as bus 1 towhich new devices may be connectable. The vehicle communications networkmay also be expandable. The new devices may be required to have theproper bus controllers for this purpose.

Then in method step 17, CD player 12 is recognized as a new device bybus manager 2. The new device is recognized here by the feature that CDplayer 12 sends a message to bus manager 2 over bus 1 indicating that itis logging on as a new device. As an alternative, the new device, CDplayer 12, may log on by triggering an initialization phase for vehiclecommunications network 1. This initialization phase may include thefeature that all devices connected to vehicle communications network 1are recognized by bus manager 2 so they are then entered into database3.

In method step 18, bus manager 2 then performs a search on the basis ofthe entries in database 3 to determine whether there is already aspecial driver for CD player 12 as a newly added device. This is thenchecked in method step 19. The special driver may allow for allfunctionalities of CD player 12 to be executable. For example, signalprocessor 8 then loads the special driver for CD player 12, to thentrigger the corresponding actions on CD player 12 on the basis of inputby the user via input device 9.

If it is found in method step 19 that the special driver for CD player12 is not present, then in method step 20, bus manager 2 triggers arequest for the special driver. For this purpose, in step 21 a check isperformed to determine whether CD player 12 itself has the specialdriver in a memory. If this is the case, then in method step 25 thespecial driver is loaded from CD player 12 and entered into database 3.Then the special driver for the devices that wish to control CD player12 is available. This entry is made in method step 27.

If it is found in method step 21 that the special driver is notavailable on CD player 12, then a check is performed in method step 22to determine whether the special driver is available over the publictelecommunications network. To do so, a dial-up connection to a serveris established via the mobile telephone, which includes transceiverstation 10 and antenna 11, to establish a connection to the Internet.Then an Internet website which may have the special driver is sought.This information regarding which Internet website is to be selected isreported by CD player 12 to bus manager 2, or a search engine is used tolocate the proper websites having the drivers. If this is the case, thenin method step 28, the special driver is downloaded from the Internetwebsite. Then in method step 27 the entry with the special driver ismade in database 3.

However, if it is found in method step 22 that the special driver is notavailable over the Internet, which may also be the case, for example, ifit is not known how the special driver is to be downloaded from theInternet, then in method step 23, the user is instructed to load thedriver via storage device 4. If the user is able to do so, then inmethod step 29, on instruction via display 6 and/or loudspeaker 7, amemory medium is inserted into storage device 4 so that the specialdriver may then be loaded. Method step 29 is then followed by methodstep 27 again, to perform the entry with the special driver in database3.

However, if it is not possible for the user to load the special driverhimself in method step 23, then in method step 24 a default driver fromthe database is used to control CD player 12. The user makes this knownby making corresponding entries via input device 9. Then later a renewedattempt is made to load a special driver. This is done here so thatafter certain intervals in time, a request is issued to the user to loadthe special driver. This may also be done, for example, when the user isusing vehicle communications network 1, i.e., after starting thevehicle.

If it is found in method step 19 that the special driver for CD player12 is already present in database 3, then in method step 26 the driveris loaded from the database and then linked in method step 27 with thenew entry for CD player 12.

In method step 30, a check is performed to determine whether database 3has reached its storage capacity. If this is the case, then in methodstep 31, the last entry is deleted, i.e., the entry made for a devicenot connected to the vehicle communications network for the longestperiod of time. In addition, the entry for the newly added device ismarked, if required, so that this entry is preserved from deletion. Thisis followed by normal operation of the vehicle communications network.

If it is found in method step 30 that the capacity of the database isnot exhausted, then in method step 32, a check is performed to determinewhether the entry for CD player 12 having the special driver is to bemarked as protected. Thus, the entry for CD player 12 will not bedeleted when the storage capacity of database 3 is exhausted. If this isthe case, then in method step 33, the entry is marked as protected; ifthis is not the case, then in method step 34 the entry is not marked andnormal operation of the vehicle communications network continues.

As an alternative, the exemplary method according to the presentinvention may not use all the method steps presented above to load thespecial driver. If, for example, a vehicle does not have a transceiverstation, so it is unable to download the special driver from theInternet, then it is up to the user and/or the newly added device toload the special driver.

A device of vehicle communications network 1 may be configured so thatit has the bus manager, i.e., a required processor and a storage deviceto hold the software of the bus manager. The newly added devices may beconfigured so that, when they are connected to vehicle communicationsnetwork 1, they automatically send a message to bus manager 2 toidentify themselves. As an alternative, newly added devices may beconfigured so that, when they are connected to vehicle communicationsnetwork 1, they automatically trigger an initialization phase which mayresult in recognition of the new device.

1. A method of adding a new device to a vehicle communications network,other devices being connected to the vehicle communications network atdifferent locations in a vehicle, the method comprising: adding the newdevice to the vehicle communications network; configuring a bus managerto recognize the new device that has been added, and to determine basedon a database whether there is one of a special driver and a defaultdriver for the new device; requesting the special driver for the newdevice that has been recognized, if there is only the default driver forthe new device; entering the new device into the database; and notifyingthe other devices of the vehicle communications network that the newdevice has been added to the vehicle communications network.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the new device that has been added isrecognized through a message from the new device to the bus manager. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the new device that has been added isrecognized by the bus manager based on an initialization phase of thevehicle communications network, the initialization phase being triggeredwhen the new device is added.
 4. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: configuring the new device to load the special driver. 5.The method of claim 2, wherein the special driver is requested, using atleast one of a visual output and an acoustic output of a first device ofthe vehicle communications network, and the method further comprises:loading the special driver via an interchangeable storage device of asecond device of the vehicle communications network.
 6. The method ofclaim 2 further comprising: downloading the special driver by the busmanager via a telecommunications network connectable to the vehiclecommunications network.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:keeping entries for removed devices that have been removed from thevehicle communications network in the database together with particularspecial drivers, until a capacity of the database is exhausted; anddeleting the entries for unconnected devices that have not beenconnected to the vehicle communications network for a longest period oftime.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: marking preselectedentries for the devices to prevent deletion from the database.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: using the default driver for thenew device that has been added until the special driver is loaded. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein a bus according to IEEE 1394 is used asthe vehicle communications network.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: linking the database entry of the new device with a databaseentry of the one of the special driver and the default driver.
 12. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the new device reports to the bus manager awebsite location from which to download the special driver.
 13. Themethod of claim 6, wherein a website location from which to download thespecial driver is located via a search engine.
 14. The method of claim9, wherein the request for the special driver is repeatedly made untilthe special driver is loaded.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein therequest is repeated at least one of after predetermined time intervalsand after a vehicle start.
 16. An arrangement for a vehiclecommunications network having different locations in a vehicle forconnecting devices, comprising: a new device configured to be added tothe vehicle communications network and to be one of recognized by a busmanager and capable of sending a message to the bus manager so that thenew device is recognized, the new device further configured to beentered into a database, wherein, according to the database, adetermination is made by the bus manager whether there is one of aspecial driver and a default driver for the new device, the specialdriver being requested for the new device by the bus manager if there isonly the default driver for the new device, and other devices of thevehicle communications network being notified by the bus manager thatthe new device has been added to the vehicle communications network. 17.An arrangement for adding a new device to a vehicle communicationsnetwork, other devices being connected to the vehicle communicationsnetwork at different locations in a vehicle, comprising: a bus managerto recognize the new device that has been added, and to determine basedon a database whether there is one of a special driver and a defaultdriver for the new device, and to request the special driver for the newdevice if there is only the default driver for the new device, and toenter the new device into the database, and to notify the other devicesof the vehicle communications network that the new device has been addedto the vehicle communications network.